Star Wars: Beyond Victory Review – Mixed Reality Misstep

Review of Star Wars: Beyond Victory

Star Wars: Beyond Victory (SWBV) is a mixed reality pod racing game developed specifically for Quest 3 and 3S by Industrial light and magic. It's an original story that combines pod racing with powerful storytelling and mixed reality gameplay. The mixed reality aspect of the game is implemented through an isometric three-quarter view of the table. The settings look very dioramic.

ILM Pedigree

It's not a knock. Quite the opposite. The ILM pedigree shines through in every aspect of this game. SWBV is a top-notch game in terms of graphics, gameplay, user interface, script, music and voice acting. It's a worthy addition to the Star Wars canon. Special marks are given specifically for graphics. The amount of detail in everything from the characters to the Star Wars technology, buildings, track designs and of course the pod racers is amazing. This is true no matter how far or close you are to the game.

The SWBV game takes place during the reign of the Empire after the events of The Phantom Menace, with Sebulba as one of the main characters. The game has three different modes: adventure mode, arcade mode and game set mode. The goal of the three modes is to enhance the game's appeal by offering a wide variety of playstyles. Adventure Mode tells the story of young Volo Bolus, an energetic but naive pilot. It will take players from ninety minutes to two hours to complete. Arcade mode is for pod racing only. Finally, the Playset mode is a dynamic sandbox based on the unlockable digital play from the other two modes, and includes figures, vehicles and tools to play with.

Of the three modes, Adventure mode has the least replay value. Once you beat the story, there's very little incentive to replay it. The only real need to go back is to find collectibles you missed on your first playthrough. It is wise to thoroughly search and examine the inside and outside of your home's garage. Some collectibles are only available in certain chapters. You can use these collectibles in game pack mode. How long it will take you to complete the story depends on your racing skills. You must finish first to complete the story. Each race also becomes more difficult. This is the biggest flaw of the story mode.

Mixed and virtual reality modes

A unique feature of Adventure Mode is the switch from mixed reality to virtual reality as you move inside the buildings in Volo's house. The Star Wars universe truly comes to life in virtual reality. You are free to explore the interiors of these collectibles. This is where ILM's attention to detail stands out. Seeing everything presented in real scale is impressive. Unfortunately, environmental interactivity is limited to story elements. You can't interact with everything freely.

As for the characters, there are eight main ones, including the hero Volo Bolus, a four-armed reptilian character. Additional levers serve as storage for your inventory. Volo's goal is to become the best racer in the galaxy. A dream he shared with his recently deceased friend Pia. Trying to prevent Volo from suffering the same fate as her Twi'lek child, Sorna acts as an aunt to him. She tries to cope with her loss through her art.

Using Volo's ambitions for his own purposes is Sebulba. Dug Racer continued his rogue ways after his defeat by Anakin in The Phantom Menace. This deception led to Sebulba's exclusion from pod racing. To get back into pod racing, Sebulba will do anything and hire two henchmen, Luuda and Trizz. Trizz is an explosives expert, and Luuda is a top-notch slicer and computer expert. Together, the trio aims to pull off a big heist under the guise of a big pod race. Volo does not know their true motives. The story is well written and will grab your attention. It builds on previous Star Wars history, which is a great hook for Star Wars fans.

This is a competition between the game mode and the arcade mode which will have the most play time. For Star Wars collectors, Playset Mode is a dream come true. You can build your dream Star Wars diorama in one of Viewportal's play sets, or place your digital toys anywhere in your physical space. The more achievements you get in other game modes, the more toys you can collect.

Galaxy of Collectibles

You have to collect more than 176 pieces of the game set. These items include SWBV characters and classic characters such as Darth Vader, R2D2 and C3PO. Other buildable playset items include pod racers, imperial ground vehicles, weapons, tools, art, food, cooking, racer engines, signs, lanterns and more. There are a variety of items here that you can mix and match to create your own Star Wars diorama.

The third gameplay option is arcade mode. This is a capsule race made in the style of a diorama. In this mode, ILM took classic pod racing and reimagined it. With mixed reality, you can turn your space into a holographic arena. From here, you'll have to master fast-paced top-down pod racing with multiple routes and non-stop action. This prospect certainly complicates the pod race, where the mixed reality implementation is misfiring.

From this point of view, the length of the upcoming track is too short. This makes it impossible to find the best race track. So not only do you need to know where your enemies are, but you also need to be extra vigilant about where the route leads. You should also keep an eye out for power-ups like speedups and gadgets like bombs.

You recreate the races from Adventure Mode and compete against other racers via a leaderboard. Not only do you strive to reach the top of the leaderboard, but you also unlock achievements to unlock rare toys. There are also tokens to be collected at each race track. Collecting tokens combined with better scores moves you up the leaderboard. When collecting tokens, remember that you can carry up to three power-ups with you.

Limited Capsule Racing

During racing, it is necessary to ensure that the car is in good condition so as not to explode and lose precious time. If you explode, your pod racer will be thrown back onto the track that runs out of health. Visual signs that your pod rider is in distress include fire and smoke coming from your vehicle.

Unfortunately, Arcade mode only has four tracks, the same racing tracks as Adventure mode. On the other hand, there are plenty of pod racers to unlock, including the very cool Tie Fighter pod racer that Sebulba races. There are also a variety of pilots to unlock. However, all these unlockable features were for naught due to the decision to host pod racing using mixed reality.

Star Wars: Beyond Victory is a beautiful game with one major flaw. The decision to combine pod racing with mixed reality is puzzling. Despite everything ILM does right with this game, what baffles me is how no one realized during development that mixed reality and pod racing don't mix.

Hardcore Star Wars fans will find enough here to keep them enjoying the game for a while. More casual fans will probably play the game for a couple of hours and then move on. Star Wars: Beyond Victory is available on Quest 3 and 3S.

***Metacode provided for review by publisher***